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A Rara Avis – The World Is Poorer Without Him In It Dr. Tibor Machan, libertarian philosopher Our friend Dr. Tibor Machan, a greatly valued contributor to this site, has passed away on March 24. Unfortunately, we haven’t known Tibor for very long. We got into touch with him after reading some of his work at Mises.org and the Daily Bell, and asked him if he would like to occasionally publish articles on Acting Man as well. To our delight, he immediately agreed. In the time we were in regular contact with him, he not only proved to be a kindred soul philosophically, but always had words of encouragement for us and graciously provided us with his outstanding work without expecting anything in return. Tibor also liked to send us brief emails with recommendations and critiques of recent movies he had seen and books he had read, as well as brief but always incisive comments on current affairs, which we always looked forward to. From feedback we have received from our readers, we know that many of you greatly enjoyed his work as well. Among US philosophers, Tibor was what the Romans used to call a rara avis – a “rare bird”.
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A Rara Avis – The World Is Poorer Without Him In It
Dr. Tibor Machan, libertarian philosopher
Our friend Dr. Tibor Machan, a greatly valued contributor to this site, has passed away on March 24.
Unfortunately, we haven’t known Tibor for very long. We got into touch with him after reading some of his work at Mises.org and the Daily Bell, and asked him if he would like to occasionally publish articles on Acting Man as well. To our delight, he immediately agreed. In the time we were in regular contact with him, he not only proved to be a kindred soul philosophically, but always had words of encouragement for us and graciously provided us with his outstanding work without expecting anything in return. Tibor also liked to send us brief emails with recommendations and critiques of recent movies he had seen and books he had read, as well as brief but always incisive comments on current affairs, which we always looked forward to. From feedback we have received from our readers, we know that many of you greatly enjoyed his work as well.
Among US philosophers, Tibor was what the Romans used to call a rara avis – a “rare bird”. A great many of the best-known US philosophers of the 20th century are de facto Marxists, forever arguing in favor of Marxist economic goals under the pretext that forcible wealth redistribution and the repudiation of property rights by the State and the associated destruction of the economy will somehow serve “justice”. It seems obvious that they know little about economics, given they dependend on the wealth produced by the system they denounce. If the market economy were destroyed, they would no longer have the leisure to write books about the evils of capitalism, since they would presumably be too busy scrounging for food and firewood.
Tibor was extremely critical of these philosophers, having had up-close and personal experience with communism. Readers may for instance want to revisit his excellent article “Some Reflections on the Right to Private Property “ in this context. As a teenager, Tibor fled from then communist Hungary (he was actually smuggled out), after having become a bit notorious at his school for expressing doubts about the blessings of socialism. Here is a video in which he relates his story of living as a child and teenager under communism and how he eventually managed to get out. Unfortunately it is not entirely complete, but it is still quite an interesting document, not least because it was filmed in an informal setting:
Tibor Machan tells the story of his youth in communist Hungary and how he fled in 1953 with the help of a smuggler hired by his father
In our experience people who were forced to live under the tender mercies of “real” socialism are as a rule its most vociferous critics. In that sense, Tibor was no exception, even though he escaped from the clutches of communism relatively early. Nevertheless, he certainly stood out in the academic world for his commitment to liberty, minimal government interference and his strict anti-Marxist stance.
For a more in-depth portrait of Tibor, his personal history and his philosophy, we recommend the following lengthy video from C-Span 2 (Book-TV) from 2011:
An in-depth portrait of Tibor Machan
Here is a link to Tibor’s Wikipedia entry, where you can find more details on his remarkable life and career.
For readers who want to revisit some of his work that has been published on Acting Man, here is the complete list of Tibor’s articles archived on this site (newest first) – enjoy:
Some Reflections on the Right to Private Property
Revisiting and Expanding the Laffer Curve
Bernie Sanders, Don’t Kid Yourself!
Reflections on Modern Democracy
Agent Causation Defended: Theorists v. their Theories
Peddling the Corruption of Liberty
The Worst of the State of the Union Address
The New York Times is Wrong Again
Some Pros and Cons of a Syrian Attack
Once Again, Freedom is at Fault
Governor Christie’s Demagoguery
Shopping in Communism versus Capitalism
Too Many Un-American Americans
A Friend’s Zimmerman/Martin Reflections
Tibor may be gone, but he lives on through his excellent work and will forever be in our hearts.
May he rest in peace.